Chance controlled football game board



Feb 26, 31.952 A. c. STRRNGEP;

CHANCE CONTROLLED FOOTBALL. GAME BOARD Filed June 2, 1948 m NJQNUN .m0 bu Am A D za mman :man 93m Patented Feb. 26, 952

UNITED STATES FFICE Arthur C. Stringer, Jackson, Miss. vplieation .Jeeg 194,8; gefiel N9., 39,643

This invention relates to games wherein .9P- posing teams cr players use oiensive defensive maneuvers and wherein a nu; cx'r ,ci of plays are available to the piense. Under so far as possible, the factor .of chance in direct- `ing progress of a game, enabling an alert detense to proiit. at the expense of the oiiense, and vice versa.

More specically it is an object of the invention to embody in a game of the character described means whereby the offense may select for use a type of play from various plays known by each player or team to be available and means for indicating the result of any selected type of play from both successful defensive and successful offensive viewpoints, together with an arrange.- ment whereby the success or lack thereof of a de.- fensive player in anticipating in advance the vtype of play selected by the offensive player determines the results of the play.

The invention is well suitedto games simulating various types of sports such 4as hockey, football; baseball, etc., and for purposes of .illustration have selected the game .of football.

Various other objects and meritorious features of the invention will be apparent from the fcllowing description .taken in conjunction with the drawings, wherein like numerals refer to .like parts throughout the several figures, and Where.- 1n:

Fig. l `is a top plan viewof a .gameboard suited to my invention, and

Figs. Zand 3 representequipmentused in conjunction With the board by offense and defense.

rIhe playing board is broadly designated by v the numeral IQ and represents the gridiron of a football field. The yardage is indicated in the customary manner by transverse lines I2 .extending across the board at iive-zyard intervals, LVthe yardage indicated by each line ,being designated i claim. (c1. 27e-,94)

ene-yard indicating lines 22 to facilitate accurate'positioning oi the ball in accordance with .the @Het sa..

L tending parallel to groove I6 and relatively clcsely Vad ljacent thereto'is a second groove or tracl'way 2 4 in which va ten-yard marker 2G is rnpunted for sliding movement. Each end oi the ten-yard marker yis provided With needle points 28 for alignment with the single-yard markings `2 2 to facilitate accurate positioning of the marker for determining the point on the board or field which the ball must reach in i'our downs =order to entitle the offense to a rst down and fc, onsequently another play.

Printed on the board in such manner as not to interierewith the general gri'diron eiect thereof is a list 30 .of plays available .to the offense. This' llist may be printed in more than one location, kp r'eerably v in oppositely disposed rela- `v ti hipas `shcojvn on the drawings', to facilitate e' by' Flai/.animated .0h .Opposite Sissi 0f .t .Seme .other @einen .Q11 the boar-d .Selected .to interfere .leest .with the sridiroe effect is a pi."- oted pointer or indicator 3 2 which is adapted to swing about a dial indicating the downs used by the oli-ense. rThere is Aalso a pointer or indicator 3 4 pilloted at some other inconspicuous point on the lboardand adapted ,t0 beswuils about a print.- ed .dial face 3 6 indicating the number of plays.

Eorpurposes of illustration, dial 36 is provided :with sections denoting plays yup to tvventyfnve .and each succeeding group of ve maybe colored ,differently from its adjacent group of live to aid in quick .determination yof .the .extent to which thev game has progressed. Twenty-five plays makeaduarterand of `course vfour quarters comple-te the game.

I conspicuously 'located on the board vfor quick andreadyrefer-ence is a large circulardial broadly indicated by the numeral '38. yDelineated by szuitablelmarking on this dial are a .plurality of concentric annuli. For purposes o f illustration I vs hovvn three concentric inner annuli designatediby the letters d, vI) Aand c surrounding which are five outer annuli divided, respectively, into subannuli g1-d', ee, f-f', g-g, and h -LC` It will be noted that to aid in readily distinguishing-thediierentannuli and subannuIi, the main annuli are separated-by doublelines and the subafrin'iili,v are separated by single lines. vOther means of vdesignating these diiferences such as -diierently colredvlines would' be equally satis- `facter-y.

Passing throughthe dial, o1' at leastthe annuli thereof, lare radial lines indicated generally at 2 4dividingthe dialintosegments Each pair of ad- :jacentsubannuli within each segment bears leg- .endsl-appropriatetto offensive and defensiveplay,

respectively. yZ'Ihus,'inthe:segment designated@ subannuli h' contains the legend Gain 4, an advantage for the offense, Whereas subannuli h bears the legend Lose 1, obviously a loss to the oense and a relative gain for the defense.

An indicator 46 is rotatably mounted at the center of the dial, which indicator on one side of its axis is divided transversely into sections designated I, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 1, 8, and each section overlies one of the main annuli of the dial.

It will be noted that the list 30 of plays designated in this illustrative embodiment of the invention are eight in number and are so numbered.

The rst ve listed plays are those which may be made from scrimmage or from a so-called huddle. Plays 6, 'l and 8 are plays of a different type. The numbers of the sections on indicator 46 correspond tothe numbers of the plays in list 30. Annuli a, b and c are not divided into subannuli because these annuli relate to plays 6, 'I and 8 which, as will be seen from list 30, constitute a punt runback, a field goal, and an extra point. For Ythe two kicking plays l and 8 the play can beonly good or bad, as indicated on the dial, and Vfor a runback of a punt the yardage of the run only need be indicated, as will be noted in annuli 6.

For all other plays, to wit, plays from I to in list 30, the defense, by anticipating the play which the oense proposes to make, may well turn the play to its advantage. To impart realism into the play of the game and enable the players to utilize their own knowledge and skill in the finer points of tactics and play, a series of five chips labeled as indicated in Fig. 2 are provided for the offensive player and a similar series of chips illustrated in Fig. 3 are provided for the defensive player. It will be noted that these chips correspond to the plays designated I to 5 in list 30 on the face of the board. Preferably the chips for each of the two opposing players are of diiferent colors to facilitate ready distinction. When in a position to make any of the plays designated I to 5 in list 30, the offense lays the chip representing the selected play face up on the board but covered. The defense, after determining which is the most likely play for the offense under the particular conditions extant on the field, selects the chip designating that play and lays it in similar manner on the board. If the chip of the defense matches the chip of the offense when both chips are uncovered, it is evident that the defense has succeeded in anticipating the play about to be made by the offense.

The indicator 46 is then spun. Assuming that play 3 has been selected, a forward pass, and the indicator 46 comes to rest at the position indicated in Fig. 1, the legend in that segment of the dial within subannuli f will determine the result of the play. If the defense had not succeeded in anticipating the play and had failed to match the chip selected by the oiense, the legend appearing in the segment over which the indicator rests and within subannuli f' Would determine the result of the play. Thus, if the defense failed successfully to anticipate the forward pass, the result of the play would be an incomplete pass. If the defense had successfully anticipated the play to be made by the offense, the result of the play would be a pass of twenty yards bythe offense intercepted by the defense, thus giving the defense the ball and starting it on its march toward the goal of its adversary. Thus the legends in subannuli d', e', f', g and h designate the result of a play which was not successfully anticipated by the defense while thosel in subannuli, d, e, f, g and h designate the result of the corresponding same plays where the defense successfully anticipated the play in advance of its execution by spinning the indicator 46.

It is obvious that more than the eight plays illustrated may be designated, and that the plays may be of any type suitable for any particular game. It is likewise apparent that the legends indicating the results of the play for both successful offense and successful defense may be varied. to suit different types of games and different styles of playing the same.

While I have described the game in conjunction with football, it will be apparent that the basic invention is applicable to games of various sorts wherein different plays are available to the offense and the defense gains advantage by successfully anticipating which of these plays the offense will make. Games relating to other than sports may well be arranged in accordance with the invention. Games relating to war maneuvers, etc., may readily be adapted to the basic principles herein described. For these and various other reasons, modifications of the particular illustrative embodiment herein disclosed may be apparent to those skilled in the art and I Wish therefore to be limited only within the scope of the appended claim.

What I claim is:

A football game comprising a board bearing a circular dial having delineated thereon a plurality of concentric annuli, certain of said annuli being divided into subannuli, the annuli being delineated by double circles and the subannuli by single circles, radial lines passing through said annuli and dividing the dial into segments, each annuli within each segment bearing a legend appropriate to offensive play only, each pair of adjacent subannuli within each segment bearing legends appropriate to offensive and defensive play, respecively, an elongated indicator rotatably mounted at the center of the dial, said indicat-or on one end of its axis being divided-transversely into sections overlying, respectively, each annuli and each pair of adjacent subannuli and bearing, respectively, marks identifying a type of play, means bearing marks corresponding to those on said indicator enabling the offense to select unknown to the defense a type of play to be attempted, and separate means bearing marks corresponding to those on said indicator enabling the defense to attempt successfully to anticipate in advance of play what type of play is selected, whereby, when the indicator is spun, in accordance with the defenses success or lack thereof, the defensive or offensive legendon that portion of the subannuli over which the selected playidentifying portion of the indicator'stops directs the movement of the ball.

ARTHUR C. STRINGER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,141,624 Fullerton June 1, 1915 1,273,675 Schmitt July 23, 1918 1,539,665 Green May 26, 1925 1,670,703 Wylie et al May 22, 1928 1,675,619 Sorlien July 3, 1928 1,905,303 Potter Apr. 25, 1933 2,039,332 Morrill May 5, 1936 2,275,306 Morrisson et al Mar. 3, 1942 

